Stock Market & Financial Investment News

Earnings Preview: Outlook mixed into JPMorgan's Q4 resultsJPMorgan (JPM) is scheduled to report Q4 earnings before the open on Wednesday, January 16, with a conference call scheduled for 9:00 am ET. JPMorgan is a bank that engages in investment and commercial banking, as well as other financial services. EXPECTATIONS: Analysts are looking for EPS of $1.16 on revenue of $24.42B, according to First Call. The consensus range for EPS is 98c-$1.29 on revenue of $23.05B-$26.55B. LAST QUARTER: JPMorgan reported Q3 EPS of $1.40 against estimates for $1.21, on revenue of $25.15B against estimates for $24.53B. Last quarter the bank reported that the credit metrics of its mortgage banking business had improved modestly, enabling it to lower its related loan loss reserves by $900M. However, JPMorgan added that it expected to see high default related expenses for awhile longer. The credit trends in the bank’s credit card portfolio continued to improve, and its capital reserves increased. Investment banking fees jumped 38% compared with the same period in 2011, but fixed income and equity markets revenue was flat. On November 8, the bank announced that it had received permission from the Fed to buy back up to $3B of its stock in 1Q13. On the legal front, the bank agreed on November 16 to pay $297M to settle charges by the SEC that the bank and its Bear Stearns subsidiary had misled investors in mortgage-backed securities that they issued. On December 4, JPMorgan CFO Marianne Lake said the bank’s mortgage business was benefiting from low interest rates, while it could offset the pressure on its net interest margin through net interest income. It also said its Q4 mortgage banking origination levels would be at or above Q3 levels, while its total quarterly net charge-offs would come in below $600M. On January 9, the bank said that it expected to take a $700M pre-tax charge for Q4 related to the settlement of improper foreclosure charges. STREET RESEARCH: On January 3, Sterne Agee upgraded the bank’s stock to Buy from Neutral, due to improved unit performance in large corporate/middle market lending and mortgage banking, improving credit quality, respectable loan growth, and its dominant market share position. Conversely, on January 4, Goldman Sachs lowered its rating on JPMorgan to Buy from Conviction Buy, citing what it sees as a lack of earnings catalysts, and relative valuation. Goldman had a $52 price target on the stock. PRICE ACTION: Over the last three months, JPMorgan’s stock has risen almost 9% to above $46, after reaching a trough of ~$39 in mid-November.

U.S. banks prepared to take advantage of Euro lenders' cautions, WSJ saysU.S. banks are preparing to advance in the sector after reporting earnings, with executives touting the gloom coming from their European counterparts as a major opportunity to capitalize on their newfound advantage, the Wall Street Journal reports. On Thursday, Deutsche Bank (DB) CEO John Cryan said that the company must "shrink" its balance sheet, while Barclays (BCS) chairman John McFarlane said that Wall Street lenders are "an enormous threat" to Euro investment banks, the report says. On the other hand, Morgan Stanley (MS) chairman James Gorman said after reporting earnings last week that the company is poised to advanced in the debt trading sector, and that "there's a potential for, over a period of time, share gain for our business," the report says. In addition, Goldman Sachs finance chief Harvey Schwartz said that the company is "seeing potential big restructuring on the European side," the report adds. Publicly traded companies in the European space include Banco Santander (SAN), Barclays (BCS), Credit Suisse (CS), Deutsche Bank (DB), HSBC (HSBC), ING Groep (ING), Lloyds Banking (LYG), RBS (RBS) and UBS (UBS). Publicly traded companies in the U.S. space include Bank of America (BAC), Citi (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS), U.S. Bancorp (USB) and Wells Fargo (WFC). Reference Link

Banks pitch total-return swaps as stock purchase alternative, WSJ reportsBanks have been pitching certain hedge fund clients on using derivatives instead of actual stocks when placing certain bets in an effort to lessen the impact of new capital rules on the banks' businesses, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the efforts. The shift involves derivatives known as total-return swaps that mirror the effects of owning a stock or other asset, the report says. Units of Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS), and UBS (UBS) are among the banks asking clients to shift trades into total-return swaps instead of underlying securities, the report says. Reference Link

Symphony Communication eyes $1B funding round, WSJ reportsSymphony Communication Services, an instant-messaging software company backed by Wall Street firms including Goldman Sachs (GS), is eyeing an investment round that may value it at as much as $1B, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter. The startup is canvassing a range of possible new investors, including venture-capital funds and additional financial firms, the report says. Symphony also wants funds from its existing backers, including Goldman, Morgan Stanley (MS), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and BlackRock (BLK), the report says. Reference Link

Varian Medical signs agreement to operate first proton facility in New YorkVarian Medical Systems (VAR) announced that it has entered into an agreement with New York Proton Management, a consortium of leading New York healthcare institutions including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Mount Sinai Health System, Montefiore Health System, and ProHEALTH Medical Management formed to operate The New York Proton Center, the first proton facility in New York State. Varian will provide the center, which will have four treatment rooms and a research room, with its ProBeam system, as well as 10 years of service for approximately $115M. The center, which will be located in Manhattan, is expected to open for treatment in the first half of 2018. Varian expects to book the equipment portion of the order in Q4 with the remainder of the order to be booked in accordance with the company's policies over the term of the agreement. Under an agreement with MM Proton I, LLC, the project developer, Varian's international subsidiary in Switzerland will provide $91.5M in project financing, including a six-and-half-year $73M senior first lien loan at 9% interest and a six-and-half-year $18.5M subordinate loan at up to 13.5% interest. Other lenders for the $242.7M in total project loans include JPMorgan Chase Bank (JPM) and an affiliate of The Goldman Sachs Group (GS). The project facility is managed by Murphy & McManus, a Boston-based developer of healthcare and life science facilities and Norton Travis of NLT Advisors served as project coordinator on behalf of the consortium.